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A Smartphone Based, Titrated Exercise Solution for Patients With Parkinson's Disease in Daily Life: Pilot Study

STEPWISE Parkinson: A Smartphone Based, Titrated Exercise Solution for Patients With Parkinson's Disease in Daily Life - Pilot Study

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06692387
Acronym
STEPWISE
Enrollment
30
Registered
2024-11-18
Start date
2020-11-02
Completion date
2021-04-01
Last updated
2024-11-18

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Movement Disorders, Parkinson Disease

Keywords

Physical activity, Walking, Exercise, Parkinson Disease, Locomotion, Motivational application

Brief summary

The aim of this pilot randomized controlled trial is to test whether it's feasible to increase participants' step counts within four weeks with a developed motivational smartphone application. If this is feasible, then we can proceed to test the app in a large, long-term randomized clinical trial.

Detailed description

Rationale: Exercise affords health benefits for people with Parkinson's disease (PD), but implementing exercise in daily life remains challenging. Moreover, many training programs are not very scalable. The investigators take an important step forward by developing and studying an innovative and fully decentralized smartphone-based program to increase long-term physical activity in people with PD in daily life. Objective: The aim of this pilot study is to investigate whether the developed smartphone app can increase physical activity in people with PD for a short period of time (one month). The secondary aim is to study the usability and enjoyment of the app and the potential effects of an increase in physical activity on physical fitness, motor- and non-motor functioning. Study design: Pilot double-blind randomized controlled intervention study. Study population: A total of 30 Dutch people with PD who have no other medical conditions that markedly hamper mobility, no cognitive impairments that make it difficult to use a game on the smartphone and possess a suitable smartphone, will be recruited. Intervention: Participants will be randomized into one of three groups. All groups will be encouraged to increase their physical activity level, measured in step counts on the participants' own smartphone, with a different percentage: (a) an increase in step count of 10% (active control group, N = 10), (b) in increase in step count of 50% (experimental group 1, N = 10), or (c) an increase in step count of 100% (experimental group 2, N = 10), compared to their baseline level.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALStep count increase with the use of a motivational application

The motivational app will encourage people to increase their physical activity for a short period of time (one month). Different treatment arms will receive different physical activity goals. People will get feedback and be motivated based on their own baseline level and actual activity level.

Sponsors

ZonMw: The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development
CollaboratorOTHER
Radboud University Medical Center
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

1. idiopathic PD 2. Hoehn and Yahr 1-3 3. able to understand the Dutch language 4. able to walk independently 5. less than 30 minutes of sports/outdoor activities per day (LASA Physical Activity Questionnaire, LAPAQ) 6. less than 7,000 steps/day during 1-week baseline

Exclusion criteria

1. weekly falls in the previous 3 months 2. medical conditions that hamper mobility 3. living in a nursing home 4. cognitive impairments that hamper use of the motivational app on the smartphone (Montreal Cognitive Assessment, MoCA \<26) 5. not in the possession of a suitable smartphone (Iphone 5S or newer with iOS 10 or higher or Android 4.1 or newer)

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change from baseline to the last week of the intervention in step countChange from baseline to the last week of the intervention (week 4)Step counts measured continuously with patients' own smartphone

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in PD motor symptomsChange from baseline to the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) part 3. Range: 0-132. Higher scores indicate worse function.
Change in Motor functioning in daily lifeChange from baseline to the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) part 2. Range: 0-52. Higher scores indicate worse function.
Change in Physical fitnessChange from baseline to the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)Meters walked during the six minute walk test (6MWT). Higher scores indicate better function.
Change in MobilityChange from baseline to the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)Timed Up and Go Test, number of seconds to complete standing up from a chair, walk 3 meters, turn, walk 3 meters back and sit down. Higher scores indicate worse function.
Change in BalanceChange from baseline to the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)The mini balance evaluation system (mini-BEST) is a 14-item, 3 points ordinal rating scale (0-2 points) to evaluate balance performance in 4 subcategories: anticipatory postural control, reactive postural control, sensory orientation and stability in gait. The attainable scores ranges from 0-28 points, in which a higher score indicates better balance.
Change in Gait speedChange from baseline to the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)The ten meter walk test (10MWT) is a standardised and recommended measurement of walking velocity. The number of seconds it takes to walk ten meters is recorded. Higher scores means worse function.
Change in Fear of fallingChange from baseline to the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)Falls Efficacy Scale International \[FES-I\]. Range: 16-64. Higher score reflects higher fear of falling
Change in Handgrip strengthChange from baseline to post-intervention in the first week after week 4 (week 5)Handgrip strength measured with a dynamometer. Higher scores mean better function.
Change from baseline to post-intervention after week 4 in Global PD non-motor symptomsChange from baseline to the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) part 1. Range: 0-52. Higher scores mean worse function.
Change in CognitionChange from baseline to post-intervention in the first week after week 4 (week 5)Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Range: 0-30. Higher scores reflect better cognition.
Change in Depression and anxietyChange from baseline to the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)Hamilton Anxiety and Depression Scale; HADS; Minimum score = 0 (no anxiety or depression), maximum score = 42 (most anxiety or depression). Higher scores mean more anxiety/depression.
Change in ApathyChange from baseline to the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)Abbreviated version of the Apathy Evaluaton Scale; AES-12PD. Range 12-48. Higher scores indicate better function.
Change in SleepChange from baseline to the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's Disease-Sleep; SCOPA-SLEEP. Range: 0-33. Higher scores reflect worse sleep.
Change in Autonomic dysfunctionChange from baseline to the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's Disease-Autonomic questionnaire; SCOPA-AUT. Range: 0-69. Higher scores indicate more problems with autonomic function.
Change in Health-related quality of lifeChange from baseline to the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire; PDQ-39. Range: 0-100. Lower scores reflecting a better health-related quality of life
Change from baseline to post-intervention after week 4 in Self-reported physical activity levelChange from baseline to the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)LASA Physical Activity Questionnaire (LAPAQ). Range: 0-no maximum. Higher score reflecting more time spent in physical activities;

Other

MeasureTime frameDescription
System Usability (SUS)After the post-intervention visit in the first week after week 4 (week 5)Usability of the STEPWISE application as assessed by the Dutch version of the System Usability Scale (SUS) at 5 weeks (follow-up). Range 0-100. Higher scores indicate better usability.

Countries

Netherlands

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026